Picture a prism refracting a ray of light and making rainbows. Once it was thought that white light was colorless and that prisms produced the colors they emitted. Later Newton demonstrated that all the colors already existed in the light, and that prisms fanned out the colors of the spectrum because particles of varying hues traveled through them at different speeds. Now imagine that a line of poetry is a ray of light, and that a prism is a translation machine of sorts.

Picture a prism refracting a ray of light and making rainbows. Once it was thought that white light was colorless and that prisms produced the colors they emitted. Later Newton demonstrated that all the colors already existed in the light, and that prisms fanned out the colors of the spectrum because particles of varying hues traveled through them at different speeds. Now imagine that a line of poetry is a ray of light, and that a prism is a translation machine of sorts.

In 1978 the academic and critic, Raymond Williams published Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. Not quite a dictionary, nor a glossary, this book explored the history and multiple uses of socially significant and contested words – Democracy, Liberal, Culture, Revolution. Inspired by Williams, in this workshop we will identify words that we consider socially and politically urgent and necessary, but also slippery and elusive in their meaning and use.

In 1978 the academic and critic, Raymond Williams published Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. Not quite a dictionary, nor a glossary, this book explored the history and multiple uses of socially significant and contested words – Democracy, Liberal, Culture, Revolution. Inspired by Williams, in this workshop we will identify words that we consider socially and politically urgent and necessary, but also slippery and elusive in their meaning and use.

Mahogany L. Browne is Artistic Director of Urban Word NYC & Program Director of BLMPratt. She curates the Nuyorican Poets Café Friday Night Slam, and is author of the books Smudge, Redbone, and Dear Twitter. She lives in Brooklyn.

LOVE IN THE LAST DAYS, a new poetry book by D. Nurkse, just out from Knopf, is a verse re-telling of the Tristan and Iseult story: lovers, monsters, prisons, a mad king--contemporary echoes are intentional. You're invited to a party, brief readings, bread, wine, friendship, and a celebration in the spirit of Roethke's line "in a dark time the eye begins to see."

In her first trip to NYC, Sandy Tilcock, proprietor of lone goose, will discuss book art collaborations with questions from her three authors and the audience.

Opening the Mouth of the Dead by Catherine Woodard is the first trade paperback and limited-edition letterpress book art simultaneously published by Tilcock. It's a story in poems inspired by the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead about a family in a small town in the South longing for connection. Celebrate with wine, cheese & MoonPies.

Join these fiercely loving writers as they celebrate the recent publication of their books: Jennifer Chang, Some Say the Lark (Alice James Books); Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Rocket Fantastic (Persea); Joseph O. Legaspi, Threshold (CavanKerry Press); and Paisley Rekdal, The Broken Country (University of Georgia Press). Readings by the authors with a reception to follow.

This event is made possible through the Poets House Literary Partners Program.

Join us for the launch of Apsara in New York by Willow Books author Sokunthary Svay, featuring a reading and discussion of Khmer American narratives with members of the Cambodian American Literary Arts Association and Mekong NYC.

This event is made possible through the Poets House Literary Partners Program.